Editorial - Local bidders

As published in the Record Journal Monday January 28, 2013

If worded carefully, an ordinance allowing for local bidder preference in awarding municipal contracts would have benefited Wallingford. Town councilors rejected this concept on Jan. 22, after discussing it in previous meetings. The proposed guideline would grant local companies an advantage in seeking contracts put out to bid by Wallingford. If a business based in the municipality did not offer the lowest price, but came within a certain percentage of this bottom figure, the business could match the low bid and win the contract.

There are downsides. Aware of a local-preference clause, out-of-town companies might not make bids. This could mean fewer businesses competing for a contract and, thus, potentially higher costs paid by Wallingford for work.

Another problem, alertly brought up by Mayor William Dickinson, would be how to conclude which companies are and are not locally based. But, as wisely suggested by Councilman Jason Zandri, checking business filings with the state could definitively determine where a company is technically located.

Moreover, it’s unclear whether bids would actually dwindle after establishment of a local-preference ordinance. In Connecticut, 29 percent of municipalities have enacted a similar law, including Meriden and North Haven. And, as argued by Councilman Craig Fishbein, because of these existing ordinances, Wallingford companies could be losing out on contracts in nearby towns and cities, and, therefore, could use additional help in their own zip code.

As presented in our news account of Dec. 22, local preference protocols in Meriden and North Haven are reasonably worded. In Meriden, to enact the program, a city-based company’s bid cannot be more than 10 percent higher than the bottom bid. In North Haven, a local business’ bid has to be within 10 percent of the lowest on items under $1 million, 5 percent of purchases between $1 million and $5 million, and 3 percent on anything more than $5 million.

Which is to say that this can be done, if implemented correctly. Based on Meriden and North Haven laws, the key is to retain a fair, fighting chance for bidders from outside municipal borders. Those two civic governments give local businesses only a marginal advantage, as not to foster favoritism or impinge greatly upon free market economics. Should Wallingford leaders seek a boost for in-town companies — and why wouldn’t they? — they could do so with similarly worded regulations.

This is a concept councilors should reconsider. By granting local businesses a second chance to match low bids under still competitive circumstances, councilors could direct taxpayer money toward town based companies, allowing Wallingford to support better its own economy.

Wallingford Local preference proposal fails

As published in the Record Journal, Thursday January 24, 2013

By Russell Blair
Record-Journal staff
rblair@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2225
Twitter:@RussellBlairRJ

WALLINGFORD - A proposal to give local companies preference on municipal contracts died recently when the Town Council’s Ordinance Committee declined to pursue the issue further.

Under the proposal, bids on contracts would be invited as usual. If a local company was not the low bidder, but within a certain percentage of the lowest bid, the firm would be awarded the contract at the lowest bid price.

Bill Abildgaard, a town resident and owner of Leed Construction, asked councilors last month for the ordinance change, reviving a discussion that began in February 2012.

“When you award to a local contractor or a local business, that money stays in town,” he said. “We buy our trucks from Valenti. We buy our insurance from a local insurance company. Most of our supplies are from Wallingford, our employees are from Wallingford.”

But Republican Town Councilor John LeTourneau said he was worried a local preference would turn away out-of-town firms from bidding on municipal projects, leading to less competition and ultimately higher costs to the town.

“If they aren’t bidding on a level playing field, then they might think twice about submitting a bid,” he said.

About 29 percent of Connecticut’s municipalities, including North Haven, Meriden, Middletown and Hamden, have some sort of local bidder preference program, In Meriden, a city-based company’s bid cannot be more than 10percent higher than the lowest bid to enact the program.

Republican Councilor Craig Fishbein said Wallingford has taken steps to help local companies, inserting language in bidding ordinances that says the town must give preference to local firms on projects that are below the bid threshold of $7,500.

Fishbein said he hopes to enlist help from the town’s legislative delegation to propose that the state abolish local bidding preferences. He said he had heard from local contractors who lost work in other towns despite submitting the lowest bid.

“I found out we are surrounded by towns that have these preferences,” Fishbein said. “It’s being used against our people.”

Advocates: Don’t ignore housing - Affordable homes called necessary in new-look downtowns

As published in the Record Journal, Saturday January 26, 2013

By Russell Blair
Record-Journal staff
rblair@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2225
Twitter:@RussellBlairRJ

WALLINGFORD - The New Haven-to-Springfield commuter rail line will present opportunities for new businesses in downtown Meriden and Wallingford, but housing advocates say developers must also look to include affordable housing.

“You can’t talk about transit without talking about housing,” Shelby Mertes, chief policy analyst for the Partnership for Strong Communities, said Friday during a meeting of the Meriden-Wallingford Coalition on Housing.

Meriden and Wallingford officials have already begun planning downtown zoning changes.

In Wallingford, the Planning and Zoning Commission is fine-tuning a proposal for an Incentive Housing Zone, which would allow high-density development but require some affordable housing.

Meriden officials have drawn up five districts in the area around the train station. Vacant properties on Hanover Street and Cook Avenue, including the site of the recently razed former Factory H and an old medical office building, would be redeveloped into mixed-use, residential properties.

Robyn-Jay Bage, chairwoman of the Meriden-Wallingford Coalition on Housing Steering Committee, said it’s important to clarify the difference between affordable housing and federally subsidized low income housing. Affordable housing refers to privately built units that are rented at a rate deemed reasonable for people making 80 percent or less of the area median income.

“These are our children, our employees, our customers and other similar groups,” Bage said. “They need places to live.”

Mertes said one way to make affordable housing more palatable to a community is to mix it with market rate housing. He compared it to including spinach in lasagna to get someone to eat spinach.

“We all know how difficult it is to get kids, and even some adults, to eat their vegetables,” Mertes said. “Mixed-income housing is embraced by communities.”

Developers can build more units on a smaller piece of land in a mixed-use development. The profits from the market-rate units help subsidize the lower rents or mortgages for the affordable units.

Mertes said mass transit gives people more money to spend in a community. If someone living near the train station doesn’t need to pay for a car, that extra money can be spent at local businesses.

“It puts more money in the economy,” he said.

In the current economy, there’s a lot of demand for smaller, more energy-efficient housing, Mertes said.

But mass transit isn’t for everyone. Mertes said it is important when developing a downtown around the commuter rail to take into consideration who uses mass transportation most: younger people, renters and those with a lower income.

Sean Moore, president of the Greater Meriden Chamber of Commerce, said it is important to start preparing for the rail line, which will begin service in 2016. The New Haven-to-Hartford portion is already fully funded.

“This opportunity obligates us to create amenities for these people,” he said. “The folks who live in these districts are the ones that give us life.”

“This is a once-in-a generation opportunity,” said Sue Murphy, executive director of the Liberty Bank Foundation and a member of the Meriden-Wallingford Coalition on Housing.

REMINDER: Second Installment of Wallingford Property taxes are due; final date for payment is FEBRUARY 1, 2013

Wallingford Dems question GOP tactic

As published in the Record Journal, Thursday January 24, 2013

By Russell Blair
Record-Journal staff
rblair@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2225
Twitter:@RussellBlairRJ

WALLINGFORD - The Democratic town chairman Wednesday called Republican town councilors “disrespectful” for halting debate during this week’s Town Council meeting without letting a Democratic colleague finish his thoughts.

Republicans invoked an infrequently used rule known as “calling the question.” If two thirds of the council supports the motion — the Republicans hold a 6-3 majority — debate is immediately ended and the pending matter is put to a vote.

Republican Thomas Laffin made the motion Tuesday night after about 45 minutes of debate on a proposal by Democrat Jason Zandri to create a committee to investigate powering town-owned buildings for use as shelters during storms with widespread power outages. Zandri shared his thoughts but deferred to other councilors and expected to speak on the subject a second time. However, Laffin moved to call the question before Zandri’s turn came around again.

“What I find reprehensible and disrespectful is not to have allowed Jason to continue asking questions,” said Democratic Town Chairman Vincent Avallone. “It was clear he was going to ask further questions.”

Laffin said Wednesday that he made the motion after giving other councilors a chance to speak because the debate had strayed from Zandri’s motion to a general discussion about emergency preparedness.

“Nobody was talking about the actual motion,” Laffin said. “They were talking in circles.”

Zandri said he was unhappy he hadn’t received a chance to continue his comments, but he was more upset that the public didn’t have a chance to speak on the issue.

“The Republicans don’t care about what the people have to say,” he said. “Just because it’s proper procedurally doesn’t make it the right thing to do.”

Republican John Le-Tourneau said Laffin’s motion hadn’t suppressed debate. He said the town-owned Electric Division is well known for keeping power running during storms and Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. said that if the town were to experience a total blackout, crews would be able to restore power to a school for use as a shelter quickly.

“The chances of something catastrophic like that happening in Wallingford is so remote,” LeTourneau said. “We could have sat there all night and talked about hypothetical (situations). It was time to end it.”

But Democratic Councilor John Sullivan said debate was cut short.

“Debate is a part of government we cannot suppress,” he said. “It (calling the question) should be a last resort. It seems the right side of the aisle is using it as a tool to squash debate.”

Avallone, who has been observing the council for about 20 years, said he’s seen more instances of calling the question this term than he has in the past two decades.

“It’s a political move to cut off discussion on issues that are important to the public,” he said.

Laffin said that if Zandri wanted information about emergency preparedness he could have requested it from Dickinson or department heads over the telephone or by setting up a meeting. Zandri said he had talked with Emergency Management Director Ernest Frattini before the meeting and placed the item on the agenda because he believes the town’s emergency preparedness plans are lacking.

Laffin also accused the Democrat, who is planning to run for mayor this fall, of using his seat on the Town Council and the forum the meeting provided for political posturing.

Zandri said he’s a councilor first and a mayoral candidate second.

“I have a job to do on behalf of the people who voted me in and I’m going to continue to do it,” he said.

Generator plan divides town council

As published in the Record Journal, Wednesday January 23, 2013

By Russell Blair
Record-Journal staff
rblair@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2225
Twitter:@RussellBlairRJ

WALLINGFORD - A discussion about purchasing generators to power the town’s high schools for use as shelters during widespread power outages broke down into a partisan debate at Tuesday’s Town Council meeting.

Democrat Jason Zandri proposed forming an “Emergency and Alternative Power Review Committee” to investigate options to power the two schools, or other town-owned facilities, for use as shelters. The town has just one shelter with generator power: the old Cook Hill Volunteer Fire Station, which can hold 40 people.

“Our emergency operations plan is not set up to accommodate a large number of residents,” said Democratic Councilor John Sullivan.

But Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. said the chances of the town experiencing massive outages were slim. He said the town would likely be able to restore power to a school quickly for use as a shelter.

“The chance we would not be able to energize one of the schools is virtually impossible,” Dickinson said. “The chance of us being completely out is remote.”

After about 45 minutes of discussion between councilors, Dickinson and Emergency Management Director Ernest Frattini, Republican Councilor Thomas Laffin made a motion to call the question to a vote. According to Robert’s Rules of Order, any member of a body that operates under the rules can make such a motion, effectively ceasing debate and putting the issue to a vote if two-thirds of the body agrees.

Laffin said town staff were already undertaking many of the duties that the committee Zandri proposed would be tasked with. “I don’t want to waste another hour talking about something that’s already been done,” Laffin said.

The motion to call Zandri’s proposal to a vote passed 6-3 along party lines, with Democrats, including Zandri, saying they hadn’t been given an opportunity to fully speak on the matter. Democrat Nicholas Economopoulos said the Republican majority was stifling debate, pointing to a member of the public who had approached the microphone, wishing to weigh in.

“We’re not stifling anyone,” said Republican Chairman Robert Parisi. “We live by rules.”

Zandri said he was upset because he had cut his initial comments short to let other councilors weigh in and believed he would have another chance to speak.

“I’m never going to give up my right to speak at this table again,” he said.

In other business, the council approved a two-year contract for management employees across all town departments, with a 1.75 percent pay increase in the first year and a renegotiation on wages in the second year. The total cost of the raises, which cover about 75 employees, will be $35,000 this year, said Personnel Director Terence Sullivan.

Zandri: Shelter schools need power; Generators at Sheehan, LHHS would make town better prepared

As published in the Record Journal, Monday January 21, 2013

By Russell Blair
Record-Journal staff
rblair@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2225
Twitter:@RussellBlairRJ

WALLINGFORD -  A massive storm rips through town, knocking out power to the entire community, including the shelter at Sheehan High School.

The situation may be a bit unlikely, but Democratic Town Councilor Jason Zandri wants to make sure the town is prepared for such an incident. Councilors Tuesday will discuss Zandri’s proposal to purchase generators or find alternative sources to power the town’s two high schools so they can be used as shelters in the event of town-wide outages.

“If a main feeder goes down, we’re done,” Zandri said. “I’m looking for a strategy to handle if we have a major power-loss situation.”

Emergency Management Director Ernest Frattini said none of the schools in town are generator-powered. There’s a generator at the Cook Hill Firehouse and 40 people could be sheltered there.

“I think we’ve been very lucky but there’s always that ‘what if?’ ” Frattini said. “We could get something that hits us where the whole town loses power for days.”

“We’ve never had a situation like that, but we’re not immune to it,” Zandri said.

Frattini said he was putting together his department’s budget request and he didn’t anticipating asking for a large capital expenditure like generators. But if times get better, Frattini said, he’d like to purchase large, portable generators that could be hooked up to either high school to power it for use as a shelter.

“If one school is in a danger zone, we can move it to the other one,” he said. “I’d like to have them both set up to use a generator.”

The town schools could still be used for shelters without electricity if there was a demonstrated need, Frattini said.

Shelters were set up during Hurricane Irene and an October snowstorm in 2011, but only about 15 people stayed the night during the two incidents. Shelters weren’t used during Hurricane Sandy last year.

Republican Councilor John LeTourneau said he believed it would make more sense to shelter people in the town’s volunteer fire stations than spending money on new generators.

“I think the money could be put to better use,” LeTourneau said.

LeTourneau also noted that the town, which has its own Electric Division, typically experiences fewer outages than surrounding communities serviced by Connecticut Light & Power or United Illuminating and power is often restored more quickly.

Tuesday’s Town Council meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in the Town Hall auditorium.

Zandri begins campaign; Dickinson undecided

As published in the Record Journal, Wednesday January 16, 2013

By Russell Blair
Record-Journal staff
rblair@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2225
Twitter:@RussellBlairRJ

WALLINGFORD -  Democrat Jason Zandri knows the introduction of new technology to Town Hall alone isn’t enough to defeat longtime Republican Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr.

In November, the 44-year old town councilor announced his intention to seek his party’s nomination for mayor. In past elections Democrats have tried, and failed, to paint Dickinson as out of touch with modern technology.

“Yes, technology is going to be part of the platform but I am far from laying all of my bets on that; leveraging technology for more ease of access, more open government, more services available will come as part of a calculated effort to streamline work that needs to be done and make our government more efficient,” Zandri wrote recently on his blog.

Zandri’s mayoral campaign held a kickoff meeting last week attended by about 20 supporters, he said.

Dickinson said Tuesday he hasn’t yet decided whether he’ll run again for the seat he’s held since he won his first election in 1983.

“Right now, especially going into budgets, I’m just swamped,” he said. “It’s a decision I have to make at a point when I’m not quite so overwhelmed. Each thing has it’s time. It’s not time for me to deal with that yet.

Zandri said he wants to tackle many issues with his campaign, including the introduction of more affordable housing and lowering the income requirement for seniors to qualify for a tax credit from the town.

He’s adopted a campaign slogan of “Moving Wallingford Forward,” and is working on developing a strategic plan of where he’d like to see the town in 10 or 15 years, with visions of a proposed Incentive Housing Zone and a new commuter rail line rejuvenating the downtown.

Democratic Town Chairman Vincent Avallone said there are other important issues besides technology.

“The Incentive Housing Zone is a huge issue, the railroad is a huge issue,” Avallone said.

The message of technology has been lost with voters in previous elections, Zandri said. It’s not just about adding email and Internet access, it’s about using technology as a tool to make workers more efficient, and when possible,consolidate jobs or reduce positions through attrition.

But Dickinson said he wasn’t so sure that technology expenditures would result in savings.

“It’s something that has to be closely analyzed,” he said.

Zandri has named 25-year old David Leonardo as his campaign manager. Leonardo, who ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for the Board of Education in 2011, previously interned on John Larson’s congressional campaign and helped with the mayoral campaigns of Dan Drew in Middletown and Vincent F. Testa Jr. in Wallingford.

“I wanted a younger individual tapped into that age group that’s not represented well at election time,” Zandri said.

Cuts in state aid to towns ‘inevitable,’ House speaker says

As published in the Record Journal, Saturday January 12, 2013

By Ed Jacovino

Journal Inquirer

HARTFORD — State aid to towns is going to be cut when lawmakers pass a two-year state budget this spring, the new speaker of the House of Representatives said this week.

“It’s inevitable that there are going to be some cuts,” House Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey said in an interview with the Journal Inquirer. “I hate to say that. I’ve been a longtime advocate for protecting cities and towns and Boards of Ed from cuts in funding from the state.”

Sharkey, D-Hamden, who took the gavel as speaker when the legislative session started Wednesday, said cities and towns shouldn’t be surprised. They were spared cuts in each of the last two budget years, as lawmakers raised state taxes significantly but sought to avoid similar property-tax increases, he observed.

“I don’t think it’s news to any cities and towns and boards of education out there,” Sharkey said. “They all are very appreciative of the fact that we’ve done as much as we have to hold them harmless for the last two years.”

Lawmakers are facing projected deficits of more than $1billion in the roughly $20 billion state budget in each of the next two years.

Sharkey said the state should work with towns to “mitigate the impact” of any cuts.

The biggest grants to towns are for schools, through the $1.9 billion Education Cost Sharing program. Others are payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT grants, in which the state reimburses towns for state facilities such as prisons and airports along with other tax-exempt property, like universities and hospitals. There are a number of smaller grant programs as well.

Municipalities say cutting state grants to them means property-tax increases aren’t far behind.

“You’re transferring the state budget problems onto cities and towns and the property tax,” James Finley, executive director of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, said Thursday. His group of mayors and first selectmen is going to oppose any cuts, he said.

While Finley said he’ll look to block reductions in municipal aid, he acknowledged cuts could be a bargaining chip towards the state eliminating requirements he calls “unfunded mandates” that cost towns money.

An example is a requirement to pay a “prevailing wage” for construction projects that cost more than a certain amount. Finley has been pushing for years to increase the threshold — exempting more projects from the requirement.

“Right now we’re not willing to say that we’re going to agree to municipal cuts without understanding what other efforts might be made to reduce municipal costs,” Finley said.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, a Democrat and former mayor of Stamford, has boasted that he closed a state budget deficit two years ago without cutting payments to municipalities. Instead, Malloy and the Democrat- controlled legislature increased state taxes and negotiated concessions with state employee unions.

Finley said that, after conversations with Malloy, the prospects for towns this year aren’t good.

“This is the first year that he hasn’t given us an unequivocal, ‘I’m not going to cut you guys.’ That’s a cause for concern,” Finley said.

Malloy, however, is still staying neutral on the issue. He has said he doesn’t “intend” to raise state taxes.

Affordable housing in Wallingford has support

As published in the Record Journal, Saturday January 12, 2013

By Russell Blair
Record-Journal staff
rblair@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2225
Twitter:@RussellBlairRJ

Zone near train depot seems to be the spot

WALLINGFORD -  A proposed Incentive Housing Zone could rejuvenate businesses in the lower downtown area, but proponents of the plan say a key element is also the construction of new affordable housing.

“There’s a lot of young people who grew up in Wallingford who can’t afford to move back,” said Democratic Town Councilor John Sullivan.

The Incentive Housing Zone would allow developers to build high-density three- and four-story mixed-use buildings. In exchange for the increased density, 20 percent of the housing units constructed must be designated as affordable for those making 80 percent or less of the median area income.

About six percent of the town’s housing stock is considered affordable. The state has set a goal of all towns having 10 percent affordable housing.

“I believe that affordable housing is something that is very much needed in Connecticut,” said Town Planner Kacie Costello. “It serves a wide population: young people, older people that are on a fixed income and a lot of professional people between those ages.”

Local developer Liz Verna also said the town needs more affordable housing. Her firm, Verna Properties, built one of the two affordable housing developments in town. Old Oak Village, a cluster of condominiums off North Turnpike Road built in 2002, has 24 units designated as affordable.

“Connecticut is very expensive to live in,” Verna said. “Businesses aren’t going to come to Connecticut if housing costs are so high.”
The town’s other affordable housing complex, Juniper Landing, has 11 affordable units and is next to Old Oak Village, according to Costello.

Verna said many people are misinformed about affordable housing. Such developments are not government subsidized and should not be confused with low-income housing, she said. They are privately built houses, condominiums or apartments that “shall be sold or rented at, or below, prices which will preserve the units as housing for which persons and families pay 30 percent or less of their annual income, where such income is less than or equal to 80 percent of the median income,” according to state statute.
Wallingford’s median household income in 2009 was $71,117.

Costello said the current affordable housing in town was built with 50-year deed restrictions, which means if the units are sold, they must be sold at below market rate to remain affordable to prospective buyers for a half century after they are built.

“We do have affordable housing and it works very well,” said Republican Town Councilor John LeTourneau.

Verna supports the Incentive Housing Zone and sees it as a way to breathe life into the downtown. Housing will bring young professionals to the area who will frequent local businesses, she said. With a new commuter rail service set to roll through town in 2016, people could live in downtown Wallingford and work in Stamford or New York, Verna said.

State Rep. Mary G. Fritz, D Wallingford, said the town has come a long way in building affordable housing in the last decade or so, pointing to Verna’s development and other clusters of condominiums that have popped up. But she believes that more affordable housing would help keep young people from leaving Wallingford.

“We need the young people in town,” she said. “We have to take care of them so they can take care of us.”

Sullivan said outside of the Incentive Housing Zone, he doesn’t see more affordable housing in town on the horizon, and believes the town should take advantage of the opportunity. Councilors gave the Planning and Zoning Commission the go-ahead this week to continue drafting plans to send to the state and apply for the designation.

“Our sons and daughters are now grown up and they’d like to live in Wallingford,” Sullivan said. “Having more affordable housing, especially down where the train is going to be, it all makes sense.”

Warning from Wallingford mayor despite budget surplus

As published in the Record Journal Tuesday January 1, 2013

By Laurie Rich Salerno
Record-Journal staff
lsalerno@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2235

WALLINGFORD - The town more than doubled its operating surplus for fiscal year 2011-12 over the total from the previous 12 months, closing out the year $1,682,000 under budget, according to an annual audit.

Still, even though the town closed out in the black, Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. warned that looming state and federal budget cuts could be a problem.

“Given what’s going on at the state level and the federal level … there could be a reduction of services,” Dickinson said. “At what point in there is the town going to need to pick up those previously funded services?”

Dickinson and Comptroller James Bowes presented the results of an audit done by Blum Shapiro of West Hartford during an annual end-of-theyear press conference Friday. A handful of town councilors were there, as well as some town staff.

Wallingford’s total operating budget for 2011-12 was $141,448,848.

Bowes said the surplus was primarily the result of two major factors: a mild winter that required little in the way of supplies, equipment and overtime costs for snow and ice removal; and a municipal revenue sharing grant the town received from the state to plug some of the financial holes created after the state ended a longtime program that gave cities and towns money in exchange for not taxing machinery. The town had approved its budget for the year before the new grant was included in the state’s budget, and had planned to lose the $800,000 it ended up receiving.

Bowes said he was unsure whether the state would be providing a similar grant in the coming year.

In other increases, the town’s tax collection rate was a bit higher than budgeted, Bowes said.

But there were losses, as the town’s interest revenue continues to decline. It earned about $100,000 less in interest in fiscal year 2011-12 than in previous years, Bowes said.

Bowes said the fiscal picture was in doubt at times during the year as the town waited to hear if it would receive reimbursement money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for Hurricane Irene and winter storm Alfred.

“If the federal government doesn’t come through with FEMA … it can swing you from a healthy year to a loss,” Bowes said.

The town eventually received the reimbursement it sought.

The surplus, $1,682,000, will go into the town’s general fund.

“The credit ratings agencies like to see that you have funds in reserve, that you are not on the brink of borrowing money whenever anything occurs,” Dickinson said.

But Democratic Town Councilor Jason Zandri said he’d like to see the roughly $1.7 million surplus go toward improving parking in the downtown area.

“This is like found money,” he said. “Rather than putting it into the general fund — where it almost never comes out — why not utilize it?”

Republican Councilor Craig Fishbein said he supported putting the money away to prepare for possible cuts in state aid.

“We have to protect our taxpayers,”he said. Democratic Councilor John Sullivan said he was pleased to see a surplus in tough economic times. “Most people should be happy,” he said.

And as for putting the money away or spending it, Sullivan said money should be saved because there is “too much uncertainty” at the state and federal level.

“We don’t know if what was funded this year will be funded next year,” he said.

The audit Friday also covered the town’s utilities. The Electric Division saw a net loss in the 2011-12 fiscal year of $565,000, which Bowes said was anticipated and due mostly to power purchase costs. The Sewer Division also had a net loss, of $230,000, which Dickinson attributed to the values of its equipment depreciating. The Water Division had a surplus of $436,000.

Dickinson was pleased but cautious.

“We’re holding our own,” Dickinson said. “We’re able to address the needs of the community, but again this current year had a tax increase; that’s a reality that goes along with good finances.”

Joint Workshop scheduled regarding the Incentive Housing Zone

REMINDER – WALLINGFORD ORDINANCE COMMITTEE (AGENDA)

TOWN OF WALLINGFORD, CONNECTICUT

SPECIAL TOWN COUNCIL MEETING

ORDINANCE COMMITTEE

Thursday, December 20, 2012

ROOM 315, TOWN HALL

6:30 p.m.

1. Call to Order.

2. Pledge of Allegiance.

3. Discussion and possible action on revision(s) to Chapter 156 regarding "Blighted Properties," as submitted by the Law Department.

4. Discussion and possible action with regard to Chapter 43 Purchasing Local Business Preference of the Code of the Town of Wallingford, as submitted by Councilor Parisi.

5. Discussion and possible action on repealing Chapter 75 (Bicycles), as submitted by Councilor Fishbein.

6. Discussion and possible action with respect to purchase, reporting, transfer, sale, methods of sale and disposal of supplies, as submitted by Councilor Zandri.

7. Adjournment.

Enjoying more political humor on a Sunday morning

As published in the Record Journal Sunday December 16, 2012

AGENDA – WALLINGFORD ORDINANCE COMMITTEE

TOWN OF WALLINGFORD, CONNECTICUT

SPECIAL TOWN COUNCIL MEETING

ORDINANCE COMMITTEE

Thursday, December 20, 2012

ROOM 315, TOWN HALL

6:30 p.m.

1. Call to Order.

2. Pledge of Allegiance.

3. Discussion and possible action on revision(s) to Chapter 156 regarding "Blighted Properties," as submitted by the Law Department.

4. Discussion and possible action with regard to Chapter 43 Purchasing Local Business Preference of the Code of the Town of Wallingford, as submitted by Councilor Parisi.

5. Discussion and possible action on repealing Chapter 75 (Bicycles), as submitted by Councilor Fishbein.

6. Discussion and possible action with respect to purchase, reporting, transfer, sale, methods of sale and disposal of supplies, as submitted by Councilor Zandri.

7. Adjournment.

Gouveia may run for Town Council

Wallingford Democrat last served in ’90s

As published in the Record Journal, Monday December 10, 2012

By Laurie Rich Salerno
Record-Journal staff
lsalerno@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2235
Twitter:@LaurieSalernoRJ

WALLINGFORD — Caught up in a wave of enthusiasm over Town Councilor Jason Zandri’s mayoral bid, fellow Democrat Peter Gouveia last week told the Record-Journal that he is considering running again for the Town Council in 2013.

The 64-year-old retired teacher was last on the council in 1998, when he was appointed to finish the term of Democrat David Doherty, who died in office. He was appointed after he was elected to three non-consecutive terms as town councilor between 1986 through 1995 He’s also the man who nearly beat current incumbent William W. Dickinson, Jr. for mayor —twice — losing by 33 votes in 1987 and 31 votes in 1991.

“I’ve always had it in back of my mind but never really took it seriously about running again,” Gouveia said. He’s been rethinking a run since Zandri announced his interest in being Democrats’ candidate for mayor in 2013. As for why he bowed out of public office in the 1990s, he said he felt he wasn’t having an impact.

“After a while you get frustrated. ... Like Jason, I’m a doer. I like to see things done.”

Gouveia repeatedly emphasized in a phone interview late last week that the decision to run was by no means final because family health issues may prevent him from running. He said he probably won’t make his decision final until the Democratic Town Committee’s nominating convention in early summer 2013.

Democratic Town Chairman Vincent Avallone said Gouveia would be a boon for the party.

“Have anybody like that on your ticket bolsters your entire ticket ... and helps attract other candidates,” Avallone said.

Gouveia was known as a vocal councilor. He often focused on topics of energy, the town’s trash plant and environmental issues, working on hazardous waste collection days in the mid 1980s and publicly faulting the state Department of Environmental Protection at the time for not finding the source of contamination of private wells near Grieb Road and East Main Street. Though he entered the council after the decision to construct the town’s waste-to energy plant, he often expressed opposition.

Gouveia also addressed social issues, calling for state funded AIDS literature to be mailed out to residents in 1987, and opposing town pension investments in companies with South African connections in the midst of apartheid.

“Our town money should not in any way help prop up a regime that promotes racial discrimination,” Gouveia said in a 1986 article in the Record-Journal.

His positions were diligently researched, former councilors of both parties say.

“I don’t think he and I would necessarily see eye-to-eye,” said former Councilor Stephen Knight, a Republican, whose terms overlapped with Gouveia’s in the 1990’s, but “I always found him to be well-prepared for the meetings, that his opinions were based on solid research and thorough study.”

Former Councilor Geno Zandri, a Democrat and Jason’s father, agreed.

“I think he has a pulse for the community,” Geno Zandri said.

Gouveia said he’d be able to devote much more time to research these days. “This time it would be even better — because I have a lot of time on my hands,” he said.

Gouveia retired from teaching in 2008 after 34 years in the Trumbull schools.

Since then he has remained involved on the Democratic Town Committee as its vice president, and is also vice president of the Center Street Cemetery under former Republican Councilor Jerry Farrell Jr. Farrell said Gouveia’s involvement at the cemetery and Holy Trinity Church could help him in a run.

“When you run for office certainly past exposure in these settings (is helpful) you want to know the person more than the party label, all of that is helpful,” Farrell said.

Zandri’s lamppost probe cut short

As published in the Record Journal Friday December 7, 2012

By Laurie Rich Salerno
Record-Journal staff
lsalerno@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2235
Twitter:@LaurieSalernoRJ

WALLINGFORD — Town Councilor Jason Zandri, a Democratic mayoral candidate, said he would drop his inquest into the Electric Department’s recent scrapping of 39 ornamental lampposts after this week’s memorandum from Town Attorney Gerald Farrell Sr. Farrell wrote that the disposal did not violate town ordinances.

“There’s no point in continuing this effort. There’s nothing more to be gained. There’s no way to go back and undo it,”Zandri said, adding that he did not believe Farrell’s report addressed the issue he brought up, but that he didn’t want to pursue a “witch hunt.”

Zandri said though he was abandoning the issue for the moment, he would keep a close eye on how departments dispose of assets.

Farrell’s memorandum was dated Dec. 3 and sent to Zandri, the Town Council and Mayor William W. Dickinson this week in response to Zandri’s request at a Nov. 27 council meeting for a review of how the town’s Electric Division disposed of 39 20-plus-year old ornamental lampposts.

The division sent the old lampposts to a scrap metal dealer with which it has a contract after replacing them with newer poles.

Zandri has said he believes that proper disposal procedure was not followed, and that the poles could have been sold intact for a significantly higher price than the less than $2,000 received by scrapping them. The town has disputed both claims.

In the memorandum, Farrell says the Electric Division did not notify the Purchasing Department before getting rid of the lampposts, but reported afterward that that they had been scrapped. He said that was in line with rules in the Town Charter and in the Purchasing Department.

Farrell cited the Town Charter, which says the purchasing agent has the duty to transfer or sell town assets that are “surplus, obsolete or unused,” with the approval of the mayor. But Farrell indicated that the light poles are none of these, instead saying they are “nonfunctioning equipment,” which “would not fall within these categories.“ He goes on to call the items scrap and lists the town’s purchasing ordinance references for “obsolete, worn out or scrapped” items, which allows the department to simply report items they’ve scrapped, but not field requests for disposal through the Purchasing Department.

But Zandri takes issue with the lights being depicted as “non-functioning” as they were working on the streets before being replaced this fall. The Electric Division characterized the poles as having deteriorating electrical connections, being unsafe to work on, and having bases that had been damaged, but did say they were operational prior to being removed.

“The ruling basically defined what could be done with scrap. It didn’t really answer my question of what should be done with ornamental streetlights,” Zandri said.

When asked about the nonfunctioning designation, Farrell said that the department believed they were scrap.

“In the opinion of the Director of Utilities they were scrap — part of what department heads have is the discretion,” to determine the state of their own materials, Farrell said. “Too often people put things on the surplus list that are total scrap and he wishes they would use more discretion in putting it as scrap — all these broken chairs, and no one really wants them.”

A presentation Zandri made at the Nov. 27 meeting listed the broken furniture from various departments that had made its way onto the town’s surplus list, saying he was surprised that if broken chairs were listed as viable assets to be sold by the town, that working lampposts were not.

Democratic Councilor Nick Econompoulos also took issue Thursday with the designation of the lights as non-functioning.

“The lawyer who is an officer of the court is telling us that the lights are not functional when we’ve already been told by (Public Utilities Director George) Adair that they were functioning,” Econompoulos said. He said that little stock should be put into the opinion on an issue where the town could be in the wrong, by an attorney employed by the town.

Republican Councilor Vincent Cervoni disagreed.

“I think it was pretty soundly written. I think it takes into account all the facts and the reality,” Cervoni said. “I think there’s a bit of an acknowledgement that the entire process wasn’t’ followed perfectly. I think in the end the process was ratified.”

Hand count audits vote scans in Wallingford

As published in the Record Journal Monday December 3, 2012

By Kimberly Primicerio
Record-Journal staff
kprimicerio@record-journal.com 
(203) 317-2279
Twitter:@KPrimicerioRJ

WALLINGFORD

Ten residents spent Sunday afternoon counting election ballots as part of an annual audit to check whether optical scan machines recorded the vote correctly.

Each year, the secretary of the state’s office randomly chooses 10 percent of the 747 polling precincts in the state that use optical scan voting machines for an audit. District 8 in Wallingford, the Wallingford Senior Center, was one of those selected.

“This isn’t a recount,” said Chet Miller, Republican registrar of voters. “We’re not trying to determine voter intention. We’re trying to determine whether the machine counted the ballot or not.”

Miller said the optical scan voting machines used throughout Connecticut on Nov. 6 have sensor lights. If someone didn’t fill in the circle on the ballot enough, the machine might not have counted the vote. The audit makes sure the machines are accurate and record information properly, Miller said.

On Sunday, eight paid helpers, Miller and Democratic Registrar of Voters Samuel Carmody gathered in a meeting room on the third floor in Town Hall. The volunteers, four Democrats and four Republicans who were paid $10 per hour, paired up. Miller handed each group hundreds of ballots cast at the Wallingford Senior Center on Nov. 6.

“We had a remarkably smooth presidential election on November 6th, especially given our state of recovery from Hurricane Sandy,” Denise Merrill, secretary of the state and Connecticut’s chief elections official, said in a written statement. “Now, it is our duty to audit the machine totals from the election to ensure the accuracy of our optical scanners.”

Pairs were first tasked with counting the ballots. As they did this, the room was quiet. Partners concentrated on counting and then recounted their partner’s stack of ballots.

Carmody said for the past several years a Wallingford voting district has been audited. He said no remarkable difference between hand counting and the optical scan machines has been discovered.

After each group counted ballots, they went through each ballot to see if any of its markings looked questionable. If voters checked a bubble on the ballot for their candidate instead of coloring in the bubble, it is likely the ballot was never counted. Counters looked through hundreds of ballots and picked out the questionable ones.

“Auditing election results isn’t just a good idea, it’s absolutely essential in order to guarantee the integrity of our elections,” Merrill said.

No one in the group was bothered by spending their afternoon counting ballots.

“I’ve been working at the polls since my boys were in elementary school,” said Betty Torre. Her sons are now in their 40s.

She even recruited her neighbors Genevieve and Thomas Gersz to help.

Torre and her counting partner Noma Beaumont, were sorting through the ballots and double-checking each other. Nearby, Noma Beaumont’s daughter, Cate Beaumont, was paired with Genevieve Gersz.

“I’ve been around elections since I was born,” Cate Beaumont said. Her mother brought her to a polling place when she was one month old, she explained.

After questionable ballots were located and set aside, partners then sorted ballots by the presidential choice. Those numbers were compared with official machine-recorded numbers. The same was done for congressional candidates and registrars of voters candidates.

Once all the counting was complete, some conclusions were reached.

“There were a few ballots where the ovals were not filled out completely, and therefore, a couple of votes were not cast as the voter had intended,” Carmody said. “The voting machines are smart, but they are not smart enough to decide voter intent if the ballot was improperly filled out.”

While the voting machines did their job, voters need to be reminded to fill in the ovals on their ballots completed in order for their votes to be accurately counted, Carmody said.

Carmody said Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney would have picked up one additional vote. Congressional candidate Wayne Wins-ley, a Republican, would have picked up one additional vote in the 3rd District race. Miller would have gained one vote for registrar of voters race and Carmody would have tallied four more votes.

“There is no impact on the outcome of any of the races,” Carmody said.

Zandri vs. Dickinson: ‘Unstoppable’ taking on the ‘immovable’?

As published in the Record Journal Monday December 3, 2012

By Laurie Rich Salerno
Record-Journal staff
lsalerno@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2235
Twitter:@LaurieSalernoRJ

WALLINGFORD — Many have tried, and a few have even come close. But since 1984, Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. has been the unbeatable man — or in Democrat Jason Zandri’s terms, “an immovable object” in the mayor’s office.

Zandri is the latest in a long line of Democrats—including his own father, Geno Zandri — in three decades to announce he would take on Dickinson, a Republican. As the 43-year-old town councilor declared his intentions at a Democratic Town Committee meeting Wednesday, he posited himself as the “unstoppable force,” referring to the classic physics paradox, to take on the 64 year-old mayor in 2013.

Local Democratic officials believe he’s the first candidate in a while to have the goods to do so, but Republicans think Zandri is banging an old drum with his focus on bringing the Internet to Town Hall. Democrats counter that his ideas go well beyond just technology, and his energy is unflagging.

“I am so excited about Jason’s campaign and candidacy for mayor that for the first time since I left the council in the 1990s the thought has occurred to me to run for that position again,” Peter Gouveia, the Democratic Town Committee vice chairman, said Friday. Gouveia is a former town councilman and was narrowly defeated in two runs for mayor against Dickinson, in 1987 and 1991.

Gouveia said he was impressed by Zandri’s dedication and drive, as did Democratic Town Chairman Vincent Avallone, using the example of Zandri’s push to raise tens of thousands of dollars each year to put on the town fireworks after Dickinson cut them from the town’s Fourth of July celebration.

“I think a perfect example is the fireworks. Nobody thought that anybody could raise $30,000 — and he did it,” Avallone said.

Avallone said that same drive is what has been pushing Zandri to question town department practices in replacing ornamental streetlights in town. Zandri has said he doesn’t believe town protocol was followed when the Electric Division sent 39 streetlights to a scrap metal contractor. The town could have refurbished and kept the lights or recouped much more from selling them, but officials didn’t check to see what all their options were, he said.

Zandri did that check and presented a PowerPoint and video presentation at Tuesday night’s Town Council meeting that juxtaposed statements utilities officials had made at a prior meeting about there not being replacement parts for the lights with those of a staff member from Penn Globe, a company in North Branford that manufactures and refurbishes lights, who said there indeed were parts available.

“It wasn’t to embarrass anybody. The reason was to show that the town could be run more efficiently,” Avallone said. “He’s not comfortable with the status quo.”

Republican Town Chairman Bob Prentice echoed other town Republicans in characterizing Zandri’s interest as micro-managing the town departments.

“I’m not sure where Jason’s coming from with this electric pole thing, whether he’s trying to be an expert with everything that happens in town. That’s why we hire people to do the job. It’d be like the governor coming to run the projects that I do,” said Prentice, who is a project manager with the state.

Though it was not his sole focus, Zandri did address technology in his announcement Wednesday, saying he’d bring the Internet, email and affiliated services to all departments in Town Hall for less than $20,000 a year and institute direct deposit for employee paychecks.

Though prior Democratic candidates, like Vincent Testa, who lost to Dickinson for the second time in 2011, have talked about bringing Internet access to Town Hall— the difference this time is that Zandri, a systems analyst at Bloomberg in New York City, is an information technology professional, Avallone said.

“What Jason’s going to concentrate on is giving specific examples of what technology’s going to do,” Avallone said Friday.

Prentice said the focus by Democrats on technology in Town Hall is old news.

“For at least 10 or 15 years everybody’s talked about new technology — and guess what, we’ve gotten by without added technology,” Prentice said.

Town Councilor John Le-Tourneau, a Republican, agreed that Dickinson is often painted as less computer friendly than he really is, and he said the mayor’s lean approach to technology is often a cost-saving measure.

“It’s not like there’s no technology. There is. Can there be more? Yes, I agree with that, but not every employee needs a screen on their desk,” said LeTourneau. “The mayor — it’s not like he just shuts it down completely, it’s where he thinks it should be.”

As for Zandri’s prospects, the fellow councilor said he thought Dickinson — though he hasn’t yet announced his own bid for the seat — would likely stay in Town Hall after the 2013 election.

“I’m just pretty confident that the mayor will be mayor again. Jason’s a nice guy, he’s a good councilor, but I think he’s more of a fit for the council,” LeTourneau said.

Avallone believes Zandri has a real shot.

“Everybody knows it’s not an easy task, quite frankly,” Avallone said. “This is not a battle against the mayor to defeat Mayor Dickinson. This is not like a personal thing. Jason feels that he’s got better ideas — and I concur — that will make this town better.”

REMINDER TODAY - Season of Celebrations - SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

As originally provided on the Town of Wallingford Website

Saturday, December 1
1:00 PM – 6:00 PM

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Wallingford Town Hall
45 South Main Street
Wallingford, CT 06492
› Driving Directions

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SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Location: Town Hall

Visits with Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus
1:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Toy Collection by Yalesville Volunteer Fire Department
1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Petting Zoo with Adorable Animals
1:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Hot Cocoa and Cookies
1:30 p.m. (While They Last)

Photo Booth Pictures by Show Stopper Entertainment
Sponsored by Wallingford Center, Inc.
2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Horse and Carriage Rides
Rides originate in front of Town Hall.
2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Yankee Chorus Sings Holiday Carols
2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Chestnuts Roasted on an Open Fire
Little Portion Acres
2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Frosty Parade
Led by DJ Lou Ferraro, Frosty and Rudolph, the parade will proceed from Town Hall down Center Street to Johanna Fishbein Park. 5:15 p.m.



SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Location: Johanna Fishbein Park

Holiday Carols at the Gazebo by the Wallingford Chorus

Reading of “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” by Mayor William Dickinson, Jr. 5:30 p.m.

Lighting of the Tree
Led by Mr. Joseph Archer and Children, generous donors of the tree. 5:50 p.m.

Free to Children of All Ages

Sponsored by Wallingford Public Celebrations Committee and Wallingford Center, Inc.
Thanks to the Department of Police Services, Department of Public Works, Edson Sea Cadets, Lyman Hall High School Key Club, Choate Rosemary Hall School, White Way Laundry, Mark Gingras, McDonald’s Restaurant and our elves and soldiers.